Kano agency shuts more than 35 private health facilities in 12 months
- Kano's private health agency says it closed over 35 facilities in a year for licence and staffing breaches.
- Its acting head said more than 100 facilities were sanctioned in total, with the worst cases sealed.
- Some closures are temporary; serious offenders risk permanent delisting and losing their right to re-register.
Kano State has closed more than 35 private health facilities in the past year, the agency that regulates them has said, as part of a push to keep unlicensed and poorly staffed outfits away from patients.
Hajiya Khadijah Sa'id, acting Director-General of the Kano State Private Health Institutions Management Agency (PHIMA), gave the figure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Kano on Tuesday. She also heads the agency's administration and general services department.
According to her, more than 100 facilities were penalised over the 12 months for various lapses, but only the most serious cases were sealed. The main problems inspectors found were clinics running without a licence, operators who failed to renew their yearly registration, and staff without the right qualifications.
Sa'id said the agency took action against more than 100 facilities for different offences, but sealed the ones whose breaches were too serious to ignore.
Some doors may reopen, others may not
Not every closure is permanent. Sa'id said some premises were shut temporarily so owners could fix what inspectors flagged, after which they can resume.
But facilities guilty of grave breaches could be struck off for good. In that case, she said, the clinic will not be registered again, and the holder of the professional licence behind it will be blocked from registering another facility.
She explained that a delisted facility stays off the register permanently, and that the professional whose licence backed it cannot use that licence to open a new one.
PHIMA's reach is wider than hospitals. It also covers clinics, nursing and maternity homes, diagnostic laboratories, dental centres, beauty salons, spas, fitness centres, and practitioners of traditional, complementary and alternative medicine.
The agency works with other government bodies and security operatives to track down illegal facilities. Sa'id said a task force set up by Governor Abba Yusuf recently found a clinic that PHIMA had already sealed and delisted operating from a new location.
Inspections are being stepped up across all 44 local government areas of the state. Sa'id said more funding and operational vehicles would let the agency cover more ground.
She urged operators to get the required licences, renew them on time and make sure only qualified people treat patients.
What happens next
Expect more inspection visits across the state as PHIMA widens its checks. Owners of sealed facilities can apply to reopen once they correct the violations, while those delisted face a permanent ban.
